30 Days Wild – Days 1-7

Have you been inspired by The Wildlife Trusts to take part in the 30 Days Wild campaign? How have the first few days of 30 Days Wild gone for you? Rather than posting every day I thought I’d give you a taster of my wild activities every few days.

Day 01 – Monday

With a day off work to get sorted after a weekend of camping and hiking I had no excuse to start 30 Days Wild off properly by finding some nature to explore. Armed with my shopping list and a rucksack to carry the goodies home, I headed to the local shop – the long way round. I am lucky to have one of England’s long distance trails passing within a mile of my front door, so I headed out, strode the 80-or-so metres up to the top of the hill, and along the ridge back into the village. The first day of June was a wet and windy one but I managed to avoid the showers and make the most of the views across Lincoln, North Hykeham, lower Waddington and over to Newark. Going for a walk and seeing the views from a nice vantage point is definitely one of my favourite ways to enjoy nature. I was joined on the trail by a brown wild bunny hopping along, a bumble bee making the most of the bright yellow Rapeseed, some cows having a rest, and plenty of wild flowers along the side of the trail. I walked four miles to the shop before stomping back down the hill back home.

Day 02 – Tuesday

I walked to work in the wind and rain (come on June!) through the grey and built up streets of Lincoln, so a rather urbanised nature but with all the slugs I had to skip over it definitely counted! The rain must have brought them out onto the pavement – there were so many of the slimy black things.

Day 03 – Wednesday

In Lincoln we are well known for our swan population, which seems particularly healthy this year. At lunch time I walked along the Brayford for some cygnet spotting and saw ten in all from two nests, some of which had only been born that morning. They are so fluffy! The ones in the water were fighting over bits of bread some workmen were throwing their way, while the ones still in the nest (mum was still sitting on one un-hatched egg) were preening their fur and doing their best to teach themselves how to stand up. Cute.

Day 04 – Thursday

Following a bit of persuasion from LincsGeek day four of 30 Days Wild was all about cycling to work. We cycle along the river, which proved a particularly wild experience – the cow parsley was taller than me for some of it! Apparently cow parsley grows as fast as it dies back so I’m glad I got to see it in all its glory. It’s so nice to start the day with a bit of fresh air and exercise, and to hear the birds tweeting and see the ducks enjoying a lazy start to the day (actually they were also huddled together sleeping when I cycled home – it seems Thursday is their very lazy day!). I also went to check on that swan’s nest when I got to work and was very happy to see the cygnets had made it into the water and were bobbing about with their mum and dad enjoying the morning sunshine.

Day 05 – Friday

A busy day in my window-less office at work followed by a long drive down to London to see family meant I had to grab a little wild time in my lunch break. But I think that’s one of the main points of this 30 Days Wild campaign… it’s not just about coming up with amazing all-day nature-bound activities, but also very much about how we might be able to grab a little time with nature in the moments we can. I headed out for a short walk around the block, which was particularly daisy filled. I’ve no idea what the little purple flowers are in amongst the daisies.

Day 06 – Saturday

You may think there is little opportunity to spend time with nature in the middle of London, but there is wildlife all over – especially pigeons! I spotted these two flying around the Thames Barrier when we were on our speed boat ride. Actually I think there is a pigeon in every single photograph I took, they are absolutely everywhere!! Lots of people consider them pests – rats of the sky, and I can definitely see how that opinion is formed, but they are a part of nature and do pretty well breeding and surviving in our cities.

Day 07 – Sunday

I really liked how nature had enveloped this old stone building at Charterhouse School. We were there for my niece’s infant Baptism. I have to say that the lawns and flower beds at this rather posh independent school didn’t seem very wild – very well preened – but here the greenery had taken over.

If you’ve got any suggestions for me for the rest of the month (especially things I can do at lunch time) make sure you send them my way!